An age-old problem

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+Share on LinkedinPin this PostShare on TumblrMore services

19 October 2012 255 views

In an increasingly ageing society, it is perhaps surprising that people living in care homes have such poor access to dental care.

Sadly, this is an unintended consequence of the 2006 NHS Dental contract. The domiciliary dental sector is currently estimated at two million patients and is expected to double by 2020, making it a rapidly emerging new private sector niche.

Concept Clinics has been serving the care home sector for more than 20 years and is now expanding to provide an innovative mobile dentistry model nationwide.

To do so, it needs 126 from the 12,000 practice principals to work with – and tap into – this fast-growing and underserved market.

With a principal focus on the escalating geriatric market, Concept Clinics reaches out to provide quality care to members of society who cannot travel to a dentist, regardless of their state of health or disability.

The recession has led to dental patients extending the time between visits or completely putting off dental visits, with a consequent impact on practice turnovers. In turn, this has set up extra capacity, creating a need for other ways to make up the shortfall to pay the practice overheads.

Some dentists are resorting to work in additional practices to keep their earning stable and perhaps increase them.

For the more enterprising, this situation has the potential to be turned into an opportunity, by joining Concept Clinics.

Concept Clinics is providing an opportunity for dentists in this position to develop and expand their own practices, increasing patient numbers and earnings by reaching new people who really require their services.

By becoming part of a Joint Venture Partnership, the equipment and expertise needed to extend the practice services is provided to the new partners (and their teams) by Concept’s line-up of experts.

This includes equipment purchase and training, treatment planning protocols, fulfilment of all CQC compliance requirements, as well as the business, time management and marketing expertise needed to develop the market.

The company was founded in 1991 to provide a dedicated domiciliary dental service in the central England.

Since then, it has expanded and is currently the exclusive dental supplier to Healthcall, the UK’s largest domiciliary optical provider. Through its work with Healthcall, the Barchester Group and other care home groups, Concept Clinics has built a network of strong relationships and a large patient base.

With more than 20 years experience in the domiciliary dental market and extensive knowledge of geriatric care, Alan Wilkinson has used his expertise to refine mobile dentistry and improve the domiciliary dental equipment needed for durable mobile use.

Concept’s clinical director is Dr Amarjit Gill, the former president of the BDA, who offers an unsurpassed knowledge of the dental market and a wealth of experience and connections.

Dr Gill began working with the largest provider of mobile dentistry in the US more than three years ago and still works as a consultant to many international dental companies, based here in the UK.

Now that the concept has been proved in the Yorkshire area, the company is expanding to the rest of the UK.

It is up to the practice owner how much time they dedicate to expanding their practice to service the needs of their local domiciliary market, but Concept Clinics has developed a model to demonstrate that by allocating one day a week, a practice can increase its turnover by £50,000 in a year.

There is clearly a great deal to explore and dental professionals keen to find out more about expanding their practices as part of a Joint Venture Partnership should email [email protected], call 01709 549611, or visit the Concept Clinic at www.conceptclinics.com.